A satellite snaps an awesome image of an approaching blizzard; the inventor of modern e-mail dies; Hubble finds the most distant galaxy ever seen; a haunting interactive map shows every nuclear detonation since 1945; and a quantum computer built from five atoms in an ion trap were all among the week’s top stories.
The Beginning of the End for Encryption Schemes?
Researchers from MIT and the University of Innsbruck in Austria report that they have designed and built a quantum computer from five atoms in an ion trap. The computer uses laser pulses to carry out Shor’s algorithm on each atom, to correctly factor the number 15. The system is designed in such a way that more atoms and lasers can be added to build a bigger and faster quantum computer, able to factor much larger numbers.
Haunting Interactive Map Shows Every Nuclear Detonation since 1945
The U.S. Army carried out the first-ever successful nuclear detonation on July 16, 1945. Known as “Trinity,” the explosion was detonated in New Mexico’s Jornada del Muerto desert. This experimental trial marked the start of a new kind of arms race and kicked off what became known as the “Nuclear Age.” Now, thousands of successful nuclear detonations since 1945 can be viewed in a new interactive online map.
Hubble Finds Most Distant Galaxy Ever Seen
By pushing NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to its limits, an international team of astronomers has shattered the cosmic distance record by measuring the farthest galaxy ever seen in the universe. This surprisingly bright infant galaxy, named GN-z11, is seen as it was 13.4 billion years in the past, just 400 million years after the Big Bang. Astronomers are closing in on the first galaxies that formed in the universe.
Inventor of Modern E-mail, Ray Tomlinson, Dies
Raymond Tomlinson, the inventor of modern e-mail and a technological leader, has died. Tomlinson wrote and sent the first e-mail on the ARPANET system, a computer network that was created for the U.S. government that is considered a precursor to the Internet. He is the one who chose the “@” symbol to connect the username with the destination address, and it has now become a cultural icon.
Blizzard Bears Down on U.S. East Coast
NASA and NOAA satellites tracked the large winter storm that brought heavy snowfall to the U.S. mid-Atlantic region on January 22 and 23, 2016. A satellite snapped this image of the approaching blizzard on January 22, when the storm was over the central U.S. In the image, snow cover is visible in the Rockies and southern Great Lakes states.
R&D 100 AWARD ENTRIES NOW OPEN: Establish your company as a technology leader! For more than 50 years, the R&D 100 Awards have showcased new products of technological significance. You can join this exclusive community! Learn more.